So to live up to my dad, I think a new body would do the trick. The new OMD E-M5 and E-M10 (Mark 2?) look very retro and similar to may fathers old SLR in silver body. So couple of questions:

1. Is it even possible to buy an OMD body and use these lens with the camera? And is it worth it?

2. The EM5 has a flash slot, would the T20 work in the camera? Is it worth it?

3. I would like to take high quality interior shots (I build offices), would the widest angle lens I can get M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 9‑18mm be the best lens for taking interior shots? And this, along with the old lenses listed above, would that make an awesome quiver?

4. The EM5 is a lot more expensive than the EM10. I don't think I will get the camera wet, although I want to take beach shots and might get some rain too. Plus I have the T20 flash I could only use with the EM5 I think, because the EM10 has a built in flash....has anyone got an opinion on which body I should get out for these two?

Thank you for advice, and helping me live up to my old man, and bring back some good memories!

Firstly, welcome to the forum. It's a great place to be part of, really friendly and supportive. I've learnt so much on here since getting back into photography.

Sorry to read about the loss of your father (been through that myself) but good to read of your wish to use his kit (a fitting tribute IMHO).

There are many others on this forum who have lots more experience than me of mixing new bodies with legacy lenses. I'll leave that advice to them (sure you will get really helpful responses).

Only thing I would say re bodies is that I think the EM5 MK1 is a wonderful piece of kit and I wouldn't be without it. Maybe worth looking at getting hold of a used one to start off with? I'm not planning to sell mine BTW.

A warm weclome James. Sorry to hear about your Dad but using his Olympus camera gear is a great way to remember some of the things he did in his life.

The T20 (and T32 in fact) will work with all Olympus digital cameras with a hotshoe. However you will either need to put them in manual mode or one of the auto modes. They will not work in TTL mode as there is no quench control on the cameras to stop the flash. I still use mine as I have not got myself a digital flash.

You will need an OM Zuiko to MFT adapter to use the lenses (about £15 off ebay) or a Metabones Speed Booster adapter (does the same job but uses the larger image circle of the old lenses by optically reducing it to the MFT sensor size and as a consequence halves the focal length and doubles the available light). Set the camera to aperture priority and shoot in lens stop down mode (so image will become dark for small apertures). The zoom focus mode on the camera helps with manual focussing as it magnifies a portion of the image to fill the viewfinder/screen. Remember that MFT (Micro Four Thirds) is a crop sensor format so lenses of a particular focal length (whether OM Zuiko or MFT) will have the field of view on an MFT camera of a lens of double the focal length on the OM10 (except when using the Metabones Speed Booster which restores the effective focal length/field of view).

As to whether this is worth it? For the kit you have from your Dad I would suggest starting out with a second hand EM-5 Mark 1; prices are quite reasonable now and the similarity to the old OM series cameras is uncanny (as was the intention). The 5-axis stabilisation really helps reduce camera shake with the old lenses as well.

A warm welcome from me too. I have both a digital Olympus OMD system as well as an OM1 35mm camera and some OM lenses. Here's my 2c worth FWIW.

I wouldn't recommend using the OM lenses with a new OMD camera for a number of reasons. Firstly, unless you're sufficiently experienced to focus them manually and handle manual aperture setting they will be slow and cumbersome to use and will probably frustrate you. Secondly, "legacy" lenses like those you have are generally poorer in image quality (IQ) compared to modern lenses. There are exceptions (and the 50mm f1.8 is probably an example), but in general you'll get better quality images from "native" micro four-thirds lenses.

Legacy zoom lenses like your Vivitar are especially problematical. Zoom design has advanced dramatically over recent years so I doubt you'll get good results from it, but there is a more important restriction - the camera's IBIS (in-body image stabilisation). IBIS needs to know the focal length in use in order know how much to move the sensor in response to movement. With native lenses, this is passed to the body from the lens using electrical contacts on the mount. With a legacy lens, you have to set the focal length manually in the camera's menus. This is OK for prime (fixed focal length) lenses since you do it when you mount the lens; but with a zoom you'd have to set each time you moved the zoom ring. This is impractical really so you'd have to turn IBIS off which would be losing a very important feature (or use the lens at a fixed zoom setting). On top of all that, that Vivitar 80-200 on u43 makes it a very long lens (high magnification) which means it will suit nature and action photography best - just where auto-focus will be highly desirable; but of course as a legacy lens it'll be manual focus.

If you do decide to use the OM lenses, think carefully before getting a SpeedBooster. They are quite expensive and given that your 50/1.8 is probably worth £20 (if you're lucky) and Vivitar likely less you'd be better spending the money on native lenses IMHO.

Net, net - I'd recommend getting native lenses to suit what you need. There is a massive catalogue in the u43 world so you won't be spoilt for choice. For interior shots the 9-18 is an option, but there are others that go wider and faster (brighter aperture) including the excellent 7-14 f2.8 - but it's a lot bigger and more expensive. Depending on what other things you intend to photograph, I'd recommend a "normal" zoom to start with - something in the 12mm-50mm range. There are lots of choices from both Panasonic and Olympus at a range of prices from budget to expensive. A prime or two might be worth adding to the list in the longer term too - I'd suggest the 17/1.8 or the 25/1.8 for a starter.

As regards cameras - the E-M10 is a super camera for the money. The mark ii version adds significant upgrades if you can afford it - a much bigger and higher quality EVF and better IBIS being the two key ones. The E-M5ii is fantastic, offering features the E-M10s don't have such as even better IBIS, hi-res mode, focus stacking (macro) and weather sealing. Unless you want to do action photography it's is right up there as one of the best u43 cameras to buy. The older E-M5 is showing its age these days and I wouldn't recommend buying that now, unless low price with weather sealing are top priorities. On weather-sealing - be careful taking kit to the beach, even if it's weather-sealed. Salt water ingress, even a little, can be fatal for modern electronic cameras.

Flash, especially manual flash, is a hard thing to master. Personally I'd suggest that using the older OM flash is best avoided unless you're prepared to learn how to use flash lighting properly. If you get the E-M10 (mark i or ii) then it comes with a built-in flash which is OK for snapshots, but since it doesn't tilt it'll not give you good lighting. However it can be used as a commander for off-camera flash - but that is upping the complexity a lot. The E-M5ii comes with a fantastic little push-on flasth that does tilt and IMHO for basic flash in smaller rooms (it's not particularly powerful), it's a great solution.

As to the OM10 and its lenses - keep it as a film camera and use it that way. It's a different photo style altogether but it's making a comeback (and 35mm camera prices are on the rise), so don't let it go.

Hiya. I agree with what has been posted above, especially pdk. Use your old system as a system, and maybe get a cheap OM / m4/3 manual adapter for your original lenses.

I have Panasonic and Olympus m4/3 bodies, and occasionally use my OM 50 / 1.8 manual lens, but more often use my 12-50 Olympus lens as a walkaround lens, a Sigma 60mm f2.8 lens for portraits. I find that I also use a flip screen quite a lot, which is on the OMD EM5ii and the new (and expensive) OMD EM1 ii, and on several Panasonic bodies, including the G7. Others prefer a tilting screen.

In addition to the above, my other go-to lens is a Panasonic 20 mm f1.7.

I have the 9-18 Olympus lens (4/3 version with adapter), and use it occasionally; but use the 12-50 more often. However, maybe you would use the wider lens more for your interiors. I recently had some building work done, and wished I'd used the dust-resistant EM5 and 12-50 rather than my 9-18 and Panasonic G5 with flippy screen - not sure how much accumulated dust there is :-S

Once you have tried and used the less expensive lenses in the extensive micro 4/3 lineup, you could then decide to go for the likes of the 7-14 wider versions (Olympus and Panasonic), the 75 mm 1.8, and the PRO lenses available ... :-)

You can get good deals on 2nd hand bodies from here (my EM5 came from this forum), and from sellers like MPB, Wex (my 2nd hand G5 came from them), LCE (my 12-50 was 2nd hand from them), Ffordes both online and in-shop. Set a budget !

I haven't put film through my Olympus film bodies for ... several years ... but the quality of photos is excellent, with film still giving the very best digital a very good run for its money.

Hi again, I don't know about film being inferior to film ... I s'pose it depends how you store it and which film you use, but ... I would recommend running a film or two through your OM10 and then looking at the results and seeing how they suit :-)

Digital ? Yes, I heartily recommend it. But I also recommend trying film.

Thank you all so much for your feedback. I purchased the OM-D 10 mark 2, and it is amazing! I love that it looks like my fathers old camera too. I've also bought an adaptor to use his old lenses from Amazon, but I can see they are going to have limited use....it's more for fun.

My next plan is to buy a wide angle lens for interiors, that's a whole new ball game and will likely have to open a new thread! Thank you!